Nelson Richard DeMille was born in New York City on August 23, 1943 to Huron and Antonia (Panzera) DeMille, then moved with his parents to Long Island. He graduated from Elmont Memorial High School, where he played football and ran track. DeMille spent three years at Hofstra University, then joined the Army where he attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the United States Army (1966-69). He saw action in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader with the First Cavalry Division and was decorated with the Air Medal, Bronze Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. After his discharge, DeMille returned to Hofstra University where he received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History. He has three children, Lauren, Alexander, and James, and resides on Long Island. DeMille's first major novel was By the Rivers of Babylon, published in 1978, and is still in print as are all his succeeding novels. He is a member of American Mensa, The Authors Guild, past president of the Mystery Writers of America, and Book-of-the-Month Club Judge. He is also a member of International Thriller Writers and was chosen as ThrillerMaster of the Year 2015. DeMille is an Honorary Trustee of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association and holds three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University, Doctor of Literature from Long Island University, and Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College. Nelson DeMille is the author of: By the Rivers of Babylon, Mayday (co-authored with Thomas Block ), Cathedral, The Talbot Odyssey, Word of Honor, The Charm School, The Gold Coast, The General's Daughter, Spencerville, Plum Island, The Lion's Game, Up Country, Night Fall, Wild Fire, The Gate House, The Lion, The Panther, The Quest, Radiant Angel, The Cuban Affair, The Deserter (co-authored with his son, Alex DeMille), The Maze, and Blood Lines (co-authored with Alex DeMille). Nelson DeMille has also contributed short stories to anthologies, and book reviews and articles to magazines and newspapers.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. 1921-2000 He had written "The Guilty Bystander" and "Scream Street" as Mike Brett.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. John Lutz has captivated suspense enthusiasts for over four decades. He has been one of the premier voices in contemporary hard-boiled fiction. His work includes political suspense, private eye novels, urban suspense, humor, occult, crime caper, police procedural, espionage, historical, futuristic, amateur detective, thriller; virtually every mystery sub-genre. John Lutz published his first short story in 1966 in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and has been publishing regularly ever since. He is the author of more than fifty novels and 250 short stories and articles. His novels and short fiction have been translated into virtually every language and adapted for almost every medium. He is a past president of both Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America. Among his awards are the MWA Edgar, the PWA Shamus, The Trophee 813 Award for best mystery short story collection translated into the French language, the PWA Life Achievement Award, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Golden Derringer Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of two private eye series, the Nudger series, set in his home town of St. Louis, and the Carver series, set in Florida, as well as many non-series suspense novels. His SWF SEEKS SAME was made into the hit movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and his novel THE EX was made into the HBO original movie of the same title, for which he co-authored the screenplay. Lutz and his wife, Barbara, split their time between St. Louis and Sarasota, Florida.

Jack Ritchie was born in a room behind his father’s tailor shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 26th, 1922. After leaving high school, Ritchie was a student at the Milwaukee State Teachers College. When America joined the Second World War, he enlisted in the U.S army. He was stationed in the Central Pacific for two years, serving for much of that period on the island of Kwajalein. It was here that he first discovered crime and mystery fiction. To pass the time, he read a large amount of mystery books and it was through this that he grew to love the genre. At the end of the war, Ritchie returned to his hometown of Milwaukee. After trying unsuccessfully to go back to college under the G.I. Bill, Ritchie worked for a time in his father’s shop. Not wishing to follow in his father’s footsteps, Ritchie decided to try writing stories for a living. When Ritchie met the literary agent Larry Sternig (through his mother, Irma Reitci, who also wrote short stories) he gave him a copy of a story he had written. Sternig recognised his writing ability from the very beginning and sold Ritchie’s first story, "Always the Season", to the New York Daily News in 1953. Larry Sternig went on to be his lifelong agent. Ritchie married a fellow writer, Rita Krohne, in 1954. Rita, under her married name, wrote a series of historical adventure novels for children. Among these was the award-winning "Night Coach to Paris". Jack and Rita Ritchie made their living from the combined income of their freelance writing, though in an interview in 1962, Jack Ritchie mentioned that they never collaborated on any of their stories. Ritchie and his wife lived in various Milwaukee locales throughout the 1950's. Their first home together was a secluded log cabin on Washington Island, where during the winter they battled against the elements. With the birth of their first child in 1957, the Ritchies relocated to a larger house on the island. In 1964, they moved back to the mainland, living in a farmhouse just west of Jefferson and raising a family of four children. In his spare time, Ritchie was an avid reader of non-fiction books and had a particular interest in history. He was also a fan of word puzzles and did the crossword in the Milwaukee Journal religiously. While his wife took part-time work to supplement the family income, Jack Ritchie continued to be a prolific writer of short stories. Ritchie’s work appeared in an amazing variety of periodicals and newspapers. He contributed a number of "hard-boiled" stories to Manhunt magazine throughout the 1950's with other stories appearing in such diverse publications as The Philadelphia Inquirer, Smashing Detective Stories and Good Housekeeping. Some readers may wonder why Ritchie's stories appeared in such a wide variety of periodicals. The major reason for this was that his agent, Larry Sternig, would promptly send out manuscripts whenever a new publication appeared on the scene. As Jack Ritchie's son Steven has noted, this is what made Sternig a great literary agent. However, it was to Alfred Hitchock's Mystery Magazine that Ritchie sold more stories to than any other periodical. Between 1959 and 1982, Ritchie sold an incredible 123 stories to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. One of these tales, "The Green Heart", was adapted into the movie "A New Leaf" starring Walter Matthau. Other stories from AHMM were used in the popular television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. As has been noted by author Donald E. Westlake, Ritchie never really gained the recognition he deserved. This was because he wrote in the short story field, as opposed to the more fashionable novels (Tiger Island was published posthumously in 1987). But to his many fans he is seen as one of the greatest short story writers of all time. Those that have discovered his stories invariably want to read more of them. His finest works continue to be reprinted to this day and it is through this legacy that he will be remembered

Brian Francis Wynne Garfield was an American novelist and screenwriter. He wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen and wrote several novels under such pen names as "Frank Wynne" and "'Brian Wynne" before gaining prominence when his book Hopscotch (1975) won the 1976 Edgar Award for Best Novel. He is best known for his 1972 novel Death Wish, which was adapted for the 1974 film of the same title, followed by four sequels, and a remake starring Bruce Willis. His follow-up 1975 sequel to Death Wish, Death Sentence, was very loosely adapted into a film of the same name which was released to theaters in late 2007, though an entirely different storyline, but with the novel's same look on vigilantism. Garfield is also the author of The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History. Garfield's latest book, published in 2007, is Meinertzhagen, the biography of controversial British intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen. Brian Garfield was the author of more than 70 books that sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and 19 of his works were made into films or TV shows.He also served as president of the Western Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America. Brian Garfield passed away on December 29, 2018 at his home in Pasadena, California. He had struggled with Parkinson's Disease during the last years of his life.

aka Ellery Queen Jr., Freeric Dannay, Manfred B. Lee, Clark Carlisle. James Clark Carlisle Holding was born April 27, 1907, in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania. His parents were James Clark Carlisle, an engineer, and Laura May (Krepps) Holding. In 1931, he married Janet Spice, with whom he had two children. Holding attended Yale University and was a member of Alpha Chi Rho. He graduated with an A.B. in 1928. Holding then took the next year to travel throughout Europe. When he returned, he took a job in Pittsburgh with Harbison Walker Co. as a firebrick salesman. After a short stay at Harbison Walker Co., he began as a junior copywriter at Batte, Barton, Durstine & Osborne in Pittsburgh. He was a copywriter from 1930 to 1944. In 1944, he moved to copy chief. During this time he created the advertising slogan for Fort Pitt beer: “Fort Pitt, That’s It.” He became vice-president after eight years and he remained in this position until 1958. While holding this high position in the company, Holding suffered the traumatic loss of his son, which eventually drove him to retire from the firm. At this point, though, Holding became a consultant, where he remained for the next ten years. Then, in 1959, he began freelance writing, which he continued until his death. Holding’s first juvenile book, The Lazy Little Zulu, was published in 1962, a few years after he began his freelance writing career. Holding’s writing has established him in the field of mystery, as well as in children’s literature. He wrote 17 juvenile books. He was also the author of more than 160 mystery stories under the pseudonym of Ellery Queen and edited many other stories. Holding wrote short mystery stories for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine, along with other similar periodicals. One of the more famous villains he created in his mysteries was Manuel Andradas, a Brazilian hitman who disguised himself as a photographer. He was also a contributor to travel magazines such as Clipper and Signature. Holding won the John Masefield Poetry Prize and the John Hubbard Curtis Poetry Prize twice. James and Janet Holding moved to Sarasota, Florida, in 1971, but returned in 1991 when their health began to fail. Holding spent his last years living with his wife Janet at the Sherwood Oaks Retirement Home in Cranberry. Holding died March 29, 1997, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. - This biography was prepared by Anastasia Cortez and Alicia Bott, Spring 2002.

Harold Q. Masur was an American lawyer and author of mystery novels. He graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1934 and practiced law between 1935 and 1942. Then he joined the U.S. Air Force. In the late 30s he started writing Pulp Fiction. In 1973 he was President of the Mystery Writers of America

Borden Deal was an American novelist and short story writer. Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, Deal attended Macedonia Consolidated High School, after which he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and fought forest fires in the Pacific Northwest. Before he began writing, his checkered career included work on a showboat, hauling sawdust for a lumber mill, harvesting wheat, a position as auditor for the United States Department of Labor, a telephone solicitor, copywriter, and an anti-aircraft fire control instructor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 1946, Deal enrolled in The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. While there he published his first short story, "Exodus". His creative writing professor was Hudson Strode. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree within three years, then enrolled in Mexico City College for graduate study. It was not until 1956 that Deal decided to become a full-time writer. Among the pseudonyms he used were Loyse Deal, Lee Borden, and Michael Sunga. A prolific writer, Deal penned twenty-one novels and more than one hundred short stories, many of which appeared in McCall's, Collier's, Saturday Review, and Good Housekeeping. His work has been translated into twenty different languages. A major theme in his canon is man's mystical attachment to the earth and his quest for land, inspired by his family's loss of their property during the Great Depression. The majority of his work is set in the small hamlets of the Deep South. From 1970 Deal also published, under the name "Anonymous", a series of erotic novels with pronoun titles such as Her and Him. His novel The Insolent Breed served as the basis for the Broadway musical A Joyful Noise. His novel Dunbar's Cove was the basis for the plot of the movie Wild River, starring Lee Remick and Montgomery Clift. Deal was married twice and had three children. He died of a heart attack in Sarasota, Florida.

(1914-1996) Charleston/Kanawha County

Patricia Anne Klein Ernst Brisco Matthews aka Patricia Ernst, P.A. Brisco, Patty Brisco, Pat A. Brisco, Pat Brisco, Patricia Matthews, Laura Wylie, Denise Matthews Patricia Anne Klein Ernst was born on 1 July 1927 in San Fernando, California, USA, the daughter of Gladys Gable and Roy Oliver Ernst. Her mother enrolled her in the famous Meglin Kiddies school, but she recorded only two of her songs professionally for one demo tape. She studied at California State University, Los Angeles, were she worked as secretary to the General Manager of Associated Students by the California State College. In 21 December 1946, she married Marvin Owen Brisco and moved to Arizona, they had two sons: Michael Arvie and David Roy. By 1961, the marriage had ended in divorce. Focused on her writing career, she returned to California, where she met the writer Clayton Matthews in a local writers' group. After Matthews divorced his first wife, he and Patricia married in 3 November 1972 and lived near San Diego. She started to write poetry, juvenile books, a play, fantasy and mystery short stories, which she signed under different names: Patricia Ernst, P.A. Brisco and Pat A. Brisco. Using the names Patty Brisco and Pat Brisco, she wrote gothic novels. When the market for gothic novels softened, at the suggestion of the Clayton's agent, Jay Garon, she began to write romance novels under her second married name, Patricia Matthews in 1976. She become a popular writer, called "American's First Lady of Historical Romance". She and her husband also collaborated on several romance and suspense novels using the pseudonyms Laura Wylie and Laurie Wylie. She and her husband wrote five Casey Farrell mystery novels together, and she wrote three on her own, the Thumbprint Mysteries, set in the American South, westat the fourth- sixth- and eighth-grade reading levels, yet offer characters, situations, and concerns appropriate for adult readers. With Denise Hrivnak, she also wrote under the pseudonym Denise Matthews. Her husband Clayton died in 25 March 2004. Patricia Anne Brisco Matthews died at 5:30 a.m. 7 December 2006 in the familiar house of Brisco in Arizona.

Betty Ren Wright is an author of children's fiction including The Dollhouse Murders, The Ghosts Of Mercy Manor and A Ghost in The House among others. She was born June 15, 1927 in the U.S. and she is currently working on her 26th novel. Ms. Wright lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her husband, George Frederiksen, a painter.